Skip to main content
Draftanomics
Prospect dossier

Jeremiah Smith

WR · Ohio State · 2027 NFL Draft class

Public Draft Board rank #1·33 contributing sources·Board as of August 31, 2026
Draftanomics scouting
Revised preseason edition · September 16, 20264 min readReport role: WR · Ohio State

Master scouting report

Smith can beat a corner over the top, work inside for a catch in traffic or outmuscle him for the ball. He has the speed to separate and the body control to finish when the throw brings him back toward coverage. We would feature him outside, where his speed forces corners to give ground and opens room for shorter routes.

By Draftanomics · Sources & edition · Print report

01Releases and separation

Smith can use either quickness or strength to get past a corner at the line, then get directly in front of him downfield. His double moves and subtle use of his hands create separation on deeper routes. That puts a corner in a difficult position: give Smith room and he can work underneath; crowd him and risk losing the race downfield. He still needs to beat press more consistently.

02Route running

He runs more than a vertical route tree, separating on comebacks and adding a second change of direction to his crossing routes without slowing down. His strongest work comes moving vertically or breaking inside; the most abrupt horizontal cuts are less natural for his frame. Paul Emery is more positive about those sharp cuts than Kyle Crabbs, but both see a receiver who can get open beyond simply running past a defender. His spacing near the sideline needs work, because he can leave too little room to complete the catch in bounds.

03Catching and running

Smith tracks deep throws well and adjusts to balls outside his frame. The quarterback does not have to place every pass directly on him, which makes him especially useful when the corner is close enough to challenge the throw. He catches away from his body and moves smoothly into the run, with the strength to break tackles. Once he accelerates, defenders can struggle to take the right angle to him. He still has lapses in concentration on routine catches.

04Blocking

Blocking is less dependable than his receiving work: an extra hop before contact can take force out of his first punch. His effort in this part of the game also needs to be more consistent. An offense using him on screens and perimeter runs will need more urgency when he is clearing the way for a teammate.

05College context

Smith caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024, then 87 for 1,243 yards and 12 scores in 2025. His freshman playoff run included 19 catches for 381 yards, with 187 against Oregon and the late 56-yard reception that helped close out Notre Dame in the championship game. In March 2025, Ryan Day praised his work habits and repeated strength-program recognition; Brian Hartline described a receiver becoming more vocal in meetings.

06Availability

A quadriceps injury interrupted the end of Smith’s 2025 regular season: he left the UCLA game early, missed Rutgers and returned against Michigan. In December, Smith said he had played against Michigan below full strength but felt fully healthy before the playoff. That was his account at the time, not a current medical assessment.

The case for the player

Strengths

  • His double moves and subtle use of his hands create separation on deeper routes.

  • Smith tracks deep throws well and adjusts to balls outside his frame.

The questions that remain

Concerns

  • Blocking is less dependable than his receiving work: an extra hop before contact can take force out of his first punch.

  • He still has lapses in concentration on routine catches.

Building the fit

NFL role and scheme fit

Use Smith as a featured outside receiver and move him into the slot when the matchup calls for it. His deep threat can draw safety help, while slants and intermediate routes give the quarterback ways to keep finding him underneath.

The Draftanomics view

Bottom line

Smith combines separation, strength and difficult-catch ability well enough to handle a leading role in an NFL passing game. Sharper sideline spacing and more effective blocking would make him a more complete receiver.

Sources & edition

The Draftanomics assessment, synthesized from attributed reporting. Role and development language expresses scouting opinion.

Draftanomics’ synthesis of published evaluations of 2024–25 play, revised September 16, 2026. This edition does not evaluate 2026 games. Proposed NFL usage is our interpretation of those evaluations.

Edition reviewed September 16, 2026. Rewritten around the player’s techniques, limitations and proposed NFL role. The college record follows the football assessment; earlier editions remain preserved.

The original August edition remains preserved. This is a revised Draftanomics assessment, with supporting sources attached to each statement.

View the 6 referenced sources
Read statement references

Every passage remains linked to its supporting sources. Open a section to inspect the assessment and its evidence.

Sources for overview
  1. House assessment

    Smith can beat a corner over the top, work inside for a catch in traffic or outmuscle him for the ball.

  2. House assessment

    He has the speed to separate and the body control to finish when the throw brings him back toward coverage.

  3. House assessment

    We would feature him outside, where his speed forces corners to give ground and opens room for shorter routes.

Sources for releases and separation
  1. House assessment

    Smith can use either quickness or strength to get past a corner at the line, then get directly in front of him downfield.

  2. House assessment

    His double moves and subtle use of his hands create separation on deeper routes.

  3. House assessment

    That puts a corner in a difficult position: give Smith room and he can work underneath; crowd him and risk losing the race downfield.

  4. House assessment

    He still needs to beat press more consistently.

Sources for route running
  1. House assessment

    He runs more than a vertical route tree, separating on comebacks and adding a second change of direction to his crossing routes without slowing down.

  2. House assessment

    His strongest work comes moving vertically or breaking inside; the most abrupt horizontal cuts are less natural for his frame.

  3. House assessment

    Paul Emery is more positive about those sharp cuts than Kyle Crabbs, but both see a receiver who can get open beyond simply running past a defender.

  4. House assessment

    His spacing near the sideline needs work, because he can leave too little room to complete the catch in bounds.

Sources for catching and running
  1. House assessment

    Smith tracks deep throws well and adjusts to balls outside his frame.

  2. House assessment

    The quarterback does not have to place every pass directly on him, which makes him especially useful when the corner is close enough to challenge the throw.

  3. House assessment

    He catches away from his body and moves smoothly into the run, with the strength to break tackles.

  4. House assessment

    Once he accelerates, defenders can struggle to take the right angle to him.

  5. House assessment

    He still has lapses in concentration on routine catches.

Sources for blocking
  1. House assessment

    Blocking is less dependable than his receiving work: an extra hop before contact can take force out of his first punch.

  2. House assessment

    His effort in this part of the game also needs to be more consistent.

  3. House assessment

    An offense using him on screens and perimeter runs will need more urgency when he is clearing the way for a teammate.

Sources for college context
  1. Reported fact

    Smith caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024, then 87 for 1,243 yards and 12 scores in 2025.

  2. Reported fact

    His freshman playoff run included 19 catches for 381 yards, with 187 against Oregon and the late 56-yard reception that helped close out Notre Dame in the championship game.

  3. Reported fact

    In March 2025, Ryan Day praised his work habits and repeated strength-program recognition; Brian Hartline described a receiver becoming more vocal in meetings.

Sources for availability
  1. Reported fact

    A quadriceps injury interrupted the end of Smith’s 2025 regular season: he left the UCLA game early, missed Rutgers and returned against Michigan.

  2. Reported fact

    In December, Smith said he had played against Michigan below full strength but felt fully healthy before the playoff.

  3. Reported fact

    That was his account at the time, not a current medical assessment.

Sources for nfl fit
  1. House assessment

    Use Smith as a featured outside receiver and move him into the slot when the matchup calls for it.

  2. House assessment

    His deep threat can draw safety help, while slants and intermediate routes give the quarterback ways to keep finding him underneath.

Sources for the assessment
  1. House assessment

    Smith combines separation, strength and difficult-catch ability well enough to handle a leading role in an NFL passing game.

  2. House assessment

    Sharper sideline spacing and more effective blocking would make him a more complete receiver.

Sources for deep separation
  1. House assessment

    His double moves and subtle use of his hands create separation on deeper routes.

Sources for ball tracking
  1. House assessment

    Smith tracks deep throws well and adjusts to balls outside his frame.

Sources for blocking
  1. House assessment

    Blocking is less dependable than his receiving work: an extra hop before contact can take force out of his first punch.

Sources for routine catches
  1. House assessment

    He still has lapses in concentration on routine catches.

College record & draft context

College production, measurables, experience, and the prospect's place on the sealed Public Draft Board.

Public Draft Board

Public Draft Board rank
#1
Position rank
WR1
Contributing sources
33
Movement since prior snapshot
Unchanged

Sealed snapshot as of August 31, 2026 · equal-weight aggregation of public boards, minimum 3 sources for a rank · The Public Draft Board

College production

Receiving
StatisticSeason 2024Season 2025
Receptions7687
Receiving yards13151243
Yards per reception17.314.3
Receiving TD1512
Long7087
Rushing
StatisticSeason 2024Season 2025
Carries63
Rushing yards4721
Yards per carry7.87
Rushing TD11
Long1917

Seasons of evidence: 2. Games played, snap counts, and usage shares are not in the retained data. An em dash means the value is not in the dataset, not zero.

Evidence notes

  • The retained data contains 2 seasons of receiving, rushing production (2024–2025).
  • Receiving yards decreased in each observed season (1315 → 1243).
  • The newest college season in the retained data is 2025; the 2026 season is not yet included.
  • No verified athletic testing is included in the sealed dataset for this prospect.
  • 33 contributing public boards rank this prospect; the Public Draft Board places him at #1.

Each note restates a displayed fact. None is a forecast of NFL performance.

Experience and measurements

Listed height
6'3"
Listed weight
223 lb
Class
Junior
Age
Not in dataset
Recorded school
Ohio State
Former school
Not in dataset
Hometown
Miami Gardens, FL
Jersey
#4
Recruiting stars
5-star
Recruiting rank
#1 nationally

"Not in dataset" means the value is absent from the sealed dossier dataset, not that it does not exist.

Athletic testing

Not included in the sealed dataset. No combine, pro-day, or RAS value is retained for the 2027 class; absence here does not mean no testing has taken place.

Listed roster height and weight (CollegeFootballData); no verified athletic testing is retained. Bio captured August 29, 2026.

Historical comparisons

Historical profile comparisons are being rebuilt.

Sources and methodology

  • Retained bio and measurements: Draftanomics prospect ingest (CollegeFootballData rosters and recruiting), retained seed data/seed/prospects_upcoming_full.parquet.
  • Retained college production: CollegeFootballData season statistics via the retained player cross-reference; position-relevant categories only; all-zero category rows dropped.
  • Age: unavailable — no birth date or age is retained for the 2027 class.
  • Transfer history: not retained — the page shows the current school and, where the frozen id names a different school, the former school.
  • Public Draft Board: sealed snapshot as of August 31, 2026; per-source ranks are not published under the aggregate-only source policy.

Board methodologyDossier methodologyResearch status

Board position reflects aggregated public opinion; the scouting report is a separate editorial assessment.